You need to determine what the value of a customer is to your company. Answer the following questions:How much will the average customer spend with you per year?A = _____________If you provide quality service and products, how many years can you expect to keep a customer ?B = _____________What is your gross profit, as a percentage of revenues?C = _____________The value (V) of a customer is:V = A X B X CWe learned with our network consulting...more
ReferralsA substantial part of your business can come from referrals. The key is to provide extraordinary customer service and educate your clients and influencers to this fact. You must actively cultivate referrals; otherwise you're just leaving it to chance.Referrals Start with Great ServiceThe foundation of great referrals is great customer service. A large part of your business can be generated through referrals. Make an investment in your...more
Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client. MeetingsIn most organizations it's easy to deliver additional value around meetings, because statistically, most companies run meetings poorly. Capture important notes during your meetings and then deliver your neatly typed notes consistently with your client's format. Not only will it allow you to capture the main ideas and benefit of important discussions, but it will almost always be appreciated by your client's team members. Send this as soon after the meeting as possible.Proactively help to define the agendas and outcomes for each meeting. Help keep things on track and try to meaningfully contribute towards these goals. Become highly proficient at running successful meetings.If there are action items for other team members that are critical to your projects success, tactfully contact the team member and offer your help if it makes sense. Keeping the project on track internally helps you accomplish your goals as a consultant and you'll be viewed favorably as a team player.ReportsDelivering quality...more
Most consultants I've talked to don't spend any time trying to recover inactive clients and it's a big mistake. We tend to magnify the problem we had or just want to move on, but sometimes a simple apology and offering to make things right will bring you back a client worth thousands of dollars in billing.Clients can quit contacting you for a...more
There is a saying that goes, "The best offense is a great defense". Nowhere is that applied better in the corporate world than in the intelligent use of email. In this age of technology, E-mail is a multi-purpose tool that can be adapted into each user's organizational patterns. Firstly, we will get the basic do's and don'ts out of the way. Do not...more
Good credit is everyone's dream. A wise use of credit can go a long way. It certainly makes certain goals in life (like acquiring business loan from bank) easily attainable.But the key question remains: "What does it take to achieve 'Triple A' credit?"First and foremost, it is important it is critical to point out where most people go wrong when it comes to their credit and credit report. People with bad credit will usually seek credit repair help. Most would seek credit expert advice and few will try to do it themselves by purchasing a credit repair book.Mainly, the problem is not the type of help you hire, rather the assumption you are left with after the whole credit repair process. Where most people go wrong is that once their credit report is free of any negative entries (or errors), they simply assume that they now have an excellent credit. That's simply untrue.In reality, your credit is not bad because you now have managed to erase the negative entries that was shown on your credit report before. At the same time, you do not have ' Triple A ' credit either. Unless, you have positive items or entries showing on your credit report.And the key to a successful credit repair is...more
When I look around at all of my friends, and a lot of my family, I see a lot of people living from pay check to pay check, under monetary stress. These same people watch the Calendar for payday like a hawk. Pay their bills, and then open up the...more
With the advancement of computer simulators, anybody can repeat all the business routines before he goes to the real world, and have the opportunity of relaxing from the tedious work with numbers. The businessman can concentrate more on the human...more
Got stacks of audio tapes that need to be converted to a more user-friendly format? Professional transcription services may be the answer. Professional transcriptionists can take standard or micro cassette tapes and produce a typed version of the...more
"Who is that hot babe in the picture?" isn't the type of reply an interviewer expects to hear when he or she invites you to ask questions near the end of an interview. In fact, the way you approach the Q&A session will have a direct impact on the...more
Growing up, we all had a mental picture of the perfect life partner The person we thought would be our happily-ever-after -- a person with a perfect smile, beautiful eyes, and an adorable button nose. Fast forward to reality and who did you wind up...more
Business, non-profit and association managers are in a stronger position to succeed when they use their public relations resources in a way that alters individual perception leading to changed external stakeholder behavior. A mouthful, but true....more